Oakland Museum faster to get to than Legion

Published 4:00 am, Sunday, April 11, 2010

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Oakland Museum faster to get to than Legion

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Officials at the Oakland Museum of California have suggested that it is faster to get there from downtown San Francisco than it is to get to the outlying museums in San Francisco. So we decided to test it. One weekday afternoon using the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art as a point of departure, we took public transportation to both the Oakland Museum near Lake Merritt and the California Palace of the Legion of Honor in the city's northwest corner. On another weekday afternoon, we did the same test by private vehicle.

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Walk to Montgomery Street BART Station: Eight minutes allowing for indecision at corner of Third and Market streets, deciding whether to turn left or right to the nearest BART entrance. After a false start left, we turn right.

Wait for train: Four minutes on the Fremont line.

Time on train: 13 minutes.

Confusion factor: There are two stairways on each side of the station, going up to Eighth and Ninth streets. One of the Ninth Street exits has a big sign with an arrow pointing up toward Oakland Museum, and the words "one block up Oak Street to 10th Street." If you follow the arrow and continue in the same direction, once you get outside you will be going the wrong way, toward Fallon Street. A stranger advises you to go the other way to reach Oak. At Oak and Ninth, you look both ways and don't see any museum. Look harder and a sign points the way.

Walk to Oakland Museum: Five minutes covering one short block (confusion included).

Elapsed time door to door: 30 minutes.

Return trip: 30 minutes.

Cost: $6.20.

SFMOMA to the Legion of Honor by Muni bus:

Walk to Muni stop: Six minutes to north side of Market Street at Post Street (east of Lotta's Fountain) to bus shelter for 38-Geary and 38L-Geary Limited.

Wait for bus: Two minutes.

Bus ride to transfer point: 32 minutes on the 38L.

Walk to transfer point: Three minutes.

Confusion factor: To reach the Legion you must transfer to the 18-46th Avenue. When you pick up your transfer (which you must carry for proof of purchase), the driver of the 38L instructs you to debark at 33rd Avenue. But it gets tricky because the 38 drops off on the north side of Geary and the 18 picks up on the south side. You have to cross at the light, and if you are stuck at a red, the bus can go right by you, which means a 20-minute wait for the next one. On this day, the 18 has the green light coming north across Geary as you are crossing the intersection to meet it. The driver sees your panic and waits.

Ride on 18 to Legion: Three minutes.

Walk to museum: One minute.

Elapsed time: 47 minutes.

Differential: 17 minutes. Oakland Museum wins.

Return trip: Three minutes on 18, then a five-minute wait for a 38. It and the 38L arrive simultaneously. For variety you take the 38. This is a mistake. The return on the local takes 49 minutes, or 17 minutes more than the ride out on the limited.

Elapsed time: 62 minutes. (It can be 82 minutes if you miss the 18 at the Legion.)

Differential: 32 minutes. Oakland wins.

Cost: $4 ($2 if you return within 90 minutes of boarding, which is what your Muni transfer allows.)

SFMOMA to Oakland Museum by vehicle (using Google Maps as a guide):

Confusion factor: Coming off Interstate 880 at Jackson Street and merging onto Fifth Street, it is easy to get caught in the right lane and have to turn right when you want to turn left onto Oak. This requires a U-turn. Approaching the museum on Oak, there is a green parking sign with an arrow directing you down 10th Street. This takes you to a surface lot around behind the Calvin Simmons Theatre, which charges $2 an hour, via machine, credit card or coin. To park in the museum's own garage, operated by Douglas Parking, you have to go past that sign and past the museum itself.

Time elapsed: 20 minutes.

Parking fees: $1 per half hour with museum validation, $8 maximum. The lot is open to the public and fills up, which will cause you to either loop around to the Simmons Theatre lot or park at a meter, which is $2 an hour, coin only. Bay Bridge toll is $4.

Return trip: 19 minutes.

SFMOMA to Legion of Honor (using 38 Geary route):

Confusion factor: If the parking lot surrounding the fountain is full, there is no clear direction as to what to do next. There is another lot on the north side of the museum, and if that is also full, you have to follow the line of cars parked on the shoulder of El Camino Del Mar alongside the Lincoln Park Golf Course.

Parking: Free

Time elapsed: 26 minutes.

Differential: Six minutes. Oakland wins.

Return trip: 40 minutes because of prevailing inbound traffic.

Differential: 21 minutes. Oakland wins.

Conclusion: If you are at SFMOMA looking for your next museum stop, go to Oakland - unless you plan to walk. {sbox}